Sonic

W3D Hub have released the v3.0.4.0 patch for Red Alert: A Path Beyond. This is another large update to address more bugs and includes changes such as Thieves, Flamethrowers and Minelayers have been moved down from Tech Level 3 to 2, Tech Level 1 now has the same units available that Tech Level 2 previously did. This is to provide more flexibility for future maps; previously Tech Level 1 was basically wasted space as it only had the units that are available without a barracks. The full change log can be found here. You can update to the latest version via the W3D Hub Launcher.

OpenRA have announced the new Red Alert Global League Tournament. The Global League is an attempt to combine the best elements of a tough scheduled format with a flexible meet up to circumvent most, if not all, time-zone related issues. The Red Alert Global League aims to become a long-term, easy and reliable format for anyone that wishes to participate. The proposed starting date is Monday, April 4th 2016 and the League will be running for two months twice a year. And of course, all games will be played using OpenRA. You can find all the important information and how to get involved right here.

Can you believe it has been one whole year of our Throwback Thursday feature already? That's right every Thursday for the past year (except for one back in June 2015) we have been rolling back the clock and enjoying some of the coolest and most interest things spanning the entire C&C universe. To kick off the second year, lets look back at some hot chicks in the "Ladies of C&C" series. This week its Ivana Milicevic as Dasha Fedorovich in Red Alert 3 from 2008. Red Alert 3 was literately bursting at the seams with beautiful women, but I always thought Ivana Milicevic topped them all. And her character was actually important to the storyline, as she interacted with you, the Soviet Commander, setting up your missions. Remember, you can click on the preview to see a larger and more detailed image. Don't forget to check out the Throwback Thursdays archives if you've missed a week. Check back again next Thursday for another Throwback. Send in your ideas for future instalments. We also encourage you to share this on social media using the hash tags #ThrowbackThursday, #CnCTBT and #CNCNZTBT.

This Easter Sunday you can get your fix of some of multiplayer mayhem as GameReplays.org will be hosting the Tiberium Wars 1vs1 Random Only March Tournament on Sunday, March 27th at 13:00 GMT on C&C:Online. You can sign up right now, and find all the important information right here.

Got my tickets booked and paid for to see Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice this Sunday, since I have the day off work (Easter Sunday). Looking forward to it

This week's pick for C&C Music Monday is "Mechanical Mind" from the Kane's Wrath soundtrack, composed by Mikael Sandgren. When Kane's Wrath was released it was clear the music composers went back and took some inspiration from Frank Klepacki's work on past C&C games. The resulting tracks were heavier and more rock, techno based. "Mechanical Mind" is one of those tracks with it's heavy guitar riffs and solid techno beats, all mixed in with some interesting voice over samples. In some sources, "Mechanical Mind" is called the Kane's Wrath theme. A new track will be posted next Monday. Share this on social media using the hash tags #CnCMusicMonday and #MusicMonday.

Throwback Thursday this weeks goes back to the development days of Red Alert 3, in June 2008 to be exact. This is when EA pulled off a "switch-a-roo" with the Soviet Apocalypse Tank. When Red Alert 3 was first revealed, the original design of the Apocalypse Tank was not warmly received. It simply didn't look right at all with it's tiny gun barrels and lack of size. EA heard this and gave us the much more intimidating Apocalypse Tank that we now see in the game today. The new design featured huge gun barrels and much beefier body. Even the treads were emphasised. Red Alert 3 was fully of wacky unit designs for all the factions, but this is one I feel they nailed perfectly. Remember, you can click on the preview to see a larger and more detailed image. Don't forget to check out the Throwback Thursdays archives if you've missed a week. Check back again next Thursday for another Throwback. Send in your ideas for future instalments. We also encourage you to share this on social media using the hash tags #ThrowbackThursday, #CnCTBT and #CNCNZTBT.

Its been a long time, but news bulletin #22 for the Mental Omega‬ mod for Yuri's Revenge has been posted. This new update covers lots of the new units, including the arsenal for the new The Foehn Revolt faction. Some of the new units are the Allied Future Tank X-2, Allied Chrono Prison, Foehn Phantasm MLRS and the Soviet Armadillo, just to name a few. You can read through the full update by visiting the Mental Omega‬ site.

Here's a cool fan made tribute to Red Alert. Well its all Red Alert 2 and Red Alert 3 footage. But set to an awesome song called "The Last Line of Defence", written and produced by Vladimir Kuznetsov of World Beyond. Check it out in the video above.

We turn to C&C Generals for this week's Music Monday selection. It's the "Generals Main Theme". An epic sounding heavy rock track, perfect for waging war. This track also doubles as one of the battle themes for the USA as well. The composer of the soundtrack for C&C Generals, Bill Brown, also released the , a heavier version of this theme. A new track will be posted next Monday. Share this on social media using the hash tags #CnCMusicMonday and #MusicMonday.

Can't wait to see this in 2016. Its Deadpool done right, nothing like the **** version they had in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Looks like this movie is staying true to the comics. Green Band Trailer: Red Band Trailer (NSFW):

OpenRA is getting more popular, its great to see. So with that in mind the OpenRA Tag Team Tournament has been announced. There is an impressive $200 prize pool up for grabs in this one. The tournament will take place on March 5th and 6th (preliminary rounds) and then on March 12th and 13th (finals). All of the tournament action will be live-streamed on FiveAces' YouTube channel. For more information, watch the awesome announcement video above. You can register for the tournament right here. There is also this topic posted on our forums as well.

The Generals Gentlemen posted another video in their "What Makes RTS Games Fun" series just a few days ago. This one discusses micro and unit differentiation, featuring Tiberium Wars, Red Alert 3, C&C Generals and other RTS games. Watch the video above.

The Project Phantom mod for Yuri's Revenge is about to make a long awaited return after a very long hiatus. Set in an alternate version of the universe seen in Red Alert & Red Alert 2, where history started to take a different path after World War II (RA1), resulting in existence of a high tech research & peace-enforcing black ops division of Allied military called Phantom Unit and birth of a new superpower from the ashes of collapsed Soviet Union at the conclusion of World War III (RA2) - the Eurasian Dominion, which would soon become most formidable opponent the Allied nations have ever faced. Decades later, after years of cold and hot war, nuclear nightmare and countless of deaths, the eternal battle between the mortal enemies still continues, while the pace of war is going to be turned upside down by an unexpected event. We don't have any details about the return but would be a good idea follow this mod on Facebook and Twitter for the latest updates.

Its different, I'll give it that.

This week's edition of Throwback Thursday looks back to the first time we got to see Westwood's vision of what was then called Command & Conquer 3, this was way back in 2004. At the time EA were developing their Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth games. During the Battle for Middle Earth community summit at EALA in August 2004, an amazing image showing an alien invasion got leaked. It first appeared as a photo taken by someone when they spotted it on a monitor at EALA, it then went on to cause a major buzz through out the entire C&C community. A few years later we got the high quality version on the image, and many more. It was later confirmed they were indeed from Command & Conquer 3, Westwood's original concept for what was apparently meant to be called "Tiberian Incursion". Of course this version of C&C 3 never got past the early concept and design stages, and by 2006, EALA had a different plan in mind for their Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. Remember, you can click on the preview to see a larger and more detailed image. Don't forget to check out the Throwback Thursdays archives if you've missed a week. Check back again next Thursday for another Throwback. Send in your ideas for future instalments. We also encourage you to share this on social media using the hash tags #ThrowbackThursday, #CnCTBT and #CNCNZTBT.

To end the month of February, a small update about the Red Alert 2: Apocalypse Rising was posted at W3D Hub. It features a video showing off the Harrier construction animations of the Airforce Command HQ. Check it out above. And some preview artwork of the always important standard and water-based crates has been posted as well. Click here for the full update.

This week's choice for Music Monday is one of the overlooked the tracks from the Red Alert 3 soundtrack. Its the "Red Alert 3 Credits" music. A powerful piece of music this one, mixed in with it's Russian theme are heavy guitars and the all male choir singing the chorus. The 1.41 mark is my favourite part of the song. Why was this relegated to the ending credits? This is some bad ass music to end the game with. A new track will be posted next Monday. Share this on social media using the hash tags #CnCMusicMonday and #MusicMonday.

Enjoy some of the music from the Deadpool movie. X Gon' Give It To Ya - DMX Salt-N-Pepa - Shoop Maximum Effort - Tom Holkenborg aka Junkie XL (listen for the reference in this one) Juice Newton - Angel of the Morning

Cleaned up the YouTube embed code. Player will always be the HTML5 player, no longer displays the video title information or suggest videos at the end.

Social media is a big thing these days, and for the past few years, CNCNZ.com has been slowly building a presence on the popular social networking sites. We share all our news on these sites. When something is posted or updated on CNCNZ.com our social network followers are the first to find out. So if you haven't already you should start following us on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. But it doesn't end there. You can share anything on CNCNZ.com on your own favourite social networking sites. All around our man site and forums, you will find the appropriate buttons. And did you know you can also sign into our forums using your Facebook or Twitter account. As you can see, social media has become an important and powerful tool, and CNCNZ.com has embraced it. So don't forget to check us out on on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

How about some new music from the one and only Frank Klepacki. This is new track is a remix of "Space Echo". It will be included in future builds of the Twisted Insurrection mod for Tiberian Sun and in the future, the Twisted Insurrection OST Vol. 6. You can listen to the new track in the video above. And don't forget, Frank Klepacki has released his new album, "Digital Frontiers". It's available for purchase in digital download and CD formats.

Colonel Sanders?

This week's Throwback Thursday features another iconic unit, the Tesla Trooper from Red Alert 2 in 2000. And advanced Soviet unit armed with a Portable Tesla coil mounted on one arm. The Tesla Trooper strikes fear in the enemy infantry because they can't survive the highly charge electric blasts fired at them. Tesla Troopers are best used as a static defence or an escort for armoured vehicles, as they are most effective against infantry, yet they are also particularly devastating against enemy tanks, which cannot crush them. And don't forget, they can also charge up Tesla Coils to increase their power and range. Remember, you can click on the preview to see a larger and more detailed image. Don't forget to check out the Throwback Thursdays archives if you've missed a week. Check back again next Thursday for another Throwback. Send in your ideas for future instalments. We also encourage you to share this on social media using the hash tags #ThrowbackThursday, #CnCTBT and #CNCNZTBT.

You will notice a small change the in the Command & Conquer News forum from today. New tag prefixing will now be used. For most news topics they will prefixed with a game specific tag, while site features and site news will also be seen. Just a quick change to make finding news topics quicker.